1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention relates to an assembly of containers for convenient storage of tools, and other items and parts and for subsequent convenient access to the stored items.
2. Description of the Related Art
Contractors and many do-it-yourself workers maintain an inventory of small hand tools and a larger inventory of parts that may be used or installed with the tools. The tools are likely to include hammers, screwdrivers, wrenches, pliers, wire strippers, hack saws, punches, caulking guns and flashlights, to name a few. The parts are likely to include nails, screws and bolts of varying sizes and shapes, wire nuts, electrical connectors, pipe fittings and caulking cartridges.
Some contractors and do-it-yourself workers employ conventional tool boxes for storing, carrying and accessing tools and parts. Prior art tool boxes have come in many different sizes, shapes and internal constructions. A typical prior art tool box will include one large compartment with a hinged cover. The large compartment typically is dimensioned for receiving tools. Several smaller compartments are movably joined to the remainder of the tool box by hinges and/or tracks. The smaller compartments typically are used to hold small parts, such as screws or nails. Tool boxes are used by some homeowners and by certain repairmen for brand name appliances. Many contractors, and do-it-yourself workers do not use tool boxes because of the relatively high cost, inconvenient access and limited versatility.
Prior art storage systems used by many contractors and do-it-yourself workers are open-topped containers that originally were intended for some other purpose. In particular, five gallon plastic pails that had originally contained joint compound are widely used for storing and transporting tools and parts. Tools and/or parts typically are stored loosely in the open top five gallon pail. Workers often spend considerable time each day manually sifting through the parts pail in an effort to find a required fitting, fastener or the like. Other workers start each day by dumping their parts pail onto a section of floor where they will be working. The respective parts then are sorted on the floor and accessed as needed. The parts then are scooped back into the five gallon plastic pail at the completion of the work day.
The inefficiencies of using a conventional five gallon plastic pail for storing and carrying tools and parts have lead to the development of many storage systems that are supported on the walls of the pail. The typical storage system includes hanging brackets with apertures for receiving various tools. An example of such a tool holder is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,867,332. Other tool organizers for five gallon plastic pails are circular trays that are supported on a central post in the pail. The assembly within the pail functions like a lazy-susan. A prior art system like this is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,441,163.
Another tool storage container of choice among many contractors is a rectangular open-topped plastic container used to carry containers of milk into and within a food store. These containers typically have unitarily molded sidewalls that resemble a lattice work and that have hand grip openings at central positions at each sidewall and end wall near the open top of the container. Containers of this type often are used to carry tools and larger parts such as some pipe fittings and duct fittings that will not fall through the openings in the walls of the container. These containers suffer from many of the same inefficiencies as the above-described five gallon cylindrical plastic pails. In particular, the worker must manually sort through a random array of tools and parts in the container to access a particular tool or part. These rectangular containers offer certain advantages over the above-described five gallon cylindrical plastic pails. In particular, the rectangular containers tend to be shorter and wider and hence offer greater stability when transported in the back of a van or pick-up truck. Additionally, the rectangular shape lends itself well to a neater storage array.
The subject invention is directed to an open-topped rectangular outer container having a plurality of rectangular open-topped inner containers movably disposed in the outer container. The outer container may be unitarily molded from a plastic material and may have a plurality of lattice-type walls. Thus, the outer container may be the type of container conventionally used for storing and carrying containers of milk in a dairy section of a food store. The outer container includes a rectangular bottom wall, a pair of opposed parallel rectangular end walls extending perpendicularly from the bottom wall and a pair of parallel sidewalls extending perpendicularly between the end walls and perpendicularly from the bottom wall. At least the end walls are provided with hand grip openings near the open top of the container. The hand grip openings in the end walls may be centrally disposed between the sidewalls of the outer container. The sidewalls of the outer container may also include hand grip openings near the open top. The hand grip openings in the sidewalls also may be centrally disposed between the end walls. Planar panels may be formed on the sidewalls or end walls to accommodate trademarks and/or to receive labels to identify parts stored in the container.
The absolute dimensions of the outer container are not important, and merely are limited by the need for convenient storage and carrying of the outer container. However, the relative dimensions of the various walls of the outer container relative to one another and relative to the inner containers is important. In particular, the end walls of the outer container preferably define an internal width of aX, while the sidewalls of the outer container preferably define an internal length of bX. In this regard, X may be any convenient selected dimension and preferably in the range of about -8 inches. Additionally, xe2x80x9caxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cbxe2x80x9d each are integers. Thus, the internal width and the internal length of the outer container are substantially equal to a selected dimension multiplied by a selected integer xe2x80x9caxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cbxe2x80x9d. In a preferred embodiment, as explained further herein, the dimension X is approximately equal to six inches, and the integers xe2x80x9caxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cbxe2x80x9d are 2 and 3 respectively. Thus, in the preferred embodiment, the internal dimensions of the outer container are about twelve inches by eighteen inches.
The relative dimensions of the outer container are further characterized by a distance between the bottom wall and the bottom of the hand grips which is equal to cY. In this context, Y is a selected convenient dimension, and xe2x80x9ccxe2x80x9d is a selected integer. Additionally, xe2x80x9ccxe2x80x9d may be equal to xe2x80x9caxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cbxe2x80x9d. In a preferred embodiment, as explained further herein, dimension xe2x80x9cYxe2x80x9d equals approximately four inches, and integer xe2x80x9ccxe2x80x9d equals 2. Thus, in this preferred embodiment, the distance between the bottom wall and the bottom of the hand grips is approximately eight inches.
The inner containers are rectangular and open topped. In particular, each inner container has a bottom wall and pairs of opposed parallel upstanding sidewalls that are perpendicular to the bottom wall. The sidewall of the inner containers are not tapered in a manner that would permit nesting of outer containers. Thus, the outer containers are stackable on top of one another without nesting. Additionally, the thicknesses of the sidewalls, at least at the top, are sufficiently great so that the bottom wall of one inner container can be supported conveniently by the top edges of the sidewalls of another inner container. The inner containers preferably have external length and external width dimensions that are approximately equal to X or to some integer multiple of X, such as aX or bX. Thus, some inner containers may have an external length dimension of aX and an external width dimension of X. Additionally, each of the inner containers has a height dimension of Y or possibly a hype dimension of some integer multiple of Y.
With the above-described construction and dimensions, a plurality of the inner containers may be arranged in a lower tier within the outer container. Additionally, a second plurality of inner containers may define a second tier of inner containers that is supported on the first tier. The inner containers may be removed and replaced to enable a worker to carry to a work site an appropriate collection of inner containers suitable for a job to be performed on a particular day. Inner containers may be separately removed from the outer container and replaced or may be removed to access another inner container. Furthermore, a single inner container in the second tier may be removed, and the remaining inner containers in the second tier may be slid lengthwise and/or widthwise to access a particular inner container in the first tier. The sliding movement is achieved without rails and merely by virtue of the ability of the non-nestable inner containers to be supported on one another. Some inner containers that have length and width dimensions of X and 2X may extend the entire width of the outer container but only one-third the length. A container of this dimension and with the preferred dimension X equal to six inches will be sufficiently large to store several standard caulking cartridges. An inner container having length and width dimensions of X and 3X could fit along the length of the outer container and across half the width. An inner container of this size can accommodate a hacksaw, hammer or fairly large wrench.
As noted above, the inner containers preferably have a height of Y. Thus, two inner containers stacked one on the other will extend from the bottom wall to a location at the bottom of the hand grips on the outer container. Thus, two tiers of inner containers will not impede the ability to lift the outer container by the hand grips.
The subject invention may further include at least one diagonal storage wall that can be slidably inserted along a diagonal on at least one of the inner containers. Thus, a diagonal wall insert will enable an inner container to be divided into two triangular containers that are smaller than the inner container.
The subject invention may further include a substantially solid cover with length and width dimensions substantially equal to the internal length and width dimensions of the outer container. Additionally, the cover may have a thickness equal to the distance from the bottom of the hand grip openings and the top of the container. Thus, the cover may define a flush top for the outer container that will safely and conveniently close all of the inner containers simultaneously. The cover may include recesses registered with the hand grip openings so that the cover does not impede the ability to grip the container assembly by the hand grips. The cover may be stopped, and may have a lower portion dimensioned to telescope into the open top of the outer container and an upper portion dimensioned to rest on the top edges of the side and end walls of the outer container.
The container assembly may further include a tray having length and width dimensions equal to the internal length and width dimensions of the outer container. Thus, the tray may be inserted into the outer container and may be supported on the first and/or second tiers of inner containers. The tray may include a plurality of smaller compartments therein. The tray may have a height less than the distance between the bottom of the hand grip openings and the top of the container, and the tray may have a cover. In this embodiment, the combined dimensions of the tray and the cover may be selected not to exceed the distance between the bottom of the hand grip openings and the top of the outer container.
A plurality of the container assemblies may be used in combination and may be connected to one another by a common cover having projections that extend into the open tops of the respective containers. The common cover may serve the dual function of closing all containers and holding all outer containers in alignment with one another. In this manner, the common cover may enable a plurality of the container assemblies to function as a bench to sit or work on. Additionally, the covers on a plurality of outer containers may facilitate the ability of a worker to either crawl across a plurality of such container assemblies stored in the back of a van or to support other materials on a plurality of such covers, such as large ducts, pipes, studs or structural panels.